


What You're Worth

by magicgamble



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, M/M, feelin especially angsty i guess, i am in a klance garbage boat right now you guys, i wrote this at 2 am
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-22
Updated: 2016-07-29
Packaged: 2018-07-26 00:20:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7552873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicgamble/pseuds/magicgamble
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lance is kidnapped and held for ransom by Zarkon. The Paladins are faced with a tough decision, and Keith has to decide what's more important: Lance, or the fate of the universe. </p>
<p>Based on this idea:<br/>http://a-chance-for-klance.tumblr.com/post/147689057377/klance-prompt-lance-is-kidnapped-and-held-for</p>
<p>Thanks anon! (not even my anon lol)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Highkey I'm sure not everything is accurate here, and when I read it the morning after I wrote it I went "hmm. that doesn't seem like a very good deal". But it doesn't matter because we're here for the Klance, right? Okay, great. <3

 

Keith rushed onto the control deck, his breaths coming in pants and his blood rushing. “Where is he?” he asked.

Everyone was already there, and they looked up at him dismally, no one saying anything. 

“Where is Lance?” Keith asked again. “Why isn't his lion here?”

Pidge slid off the table she had been sitting on and pushed up her glasses. “We don't know, Keith. We thought he was right behind us.”

Keith whirled on Hunk, who was sitting on the ground, his knees pulled up to his chest. “You,” he said. “You were at the back of the group. Did you not see where he went?”

“I didn't,” he answered. “I thought-” 

“Hunk,” Shiro said quickly, “you don't have to defend yourself. Keith knows you would have said something if you knew what happened.”

Keith’s first response was anger at having been corrected, but when he looked at Hunk’s face again, he softened, sighing. “I'm sorry,” he said. “I just- I don't understand.”

Shiro walked toward Keith and put his hand on his shoulder. “It will be fine,” he said. “Lance isn't helpless. I'm sure he’ll turn up.”

“Shiro’s right,” Allura spoke up. “There's always the chance he made it through the wormhole, after all.”

Keith huffed. “Then why isn't he here?” He grumbled, to which Allura had no answer. 

“Whoa,” Coran suddenly said from his place at the controls. “We’re getting an incoming signal.”

Pidge ran over to his side. “Is it Lance?” she asked eagerly. 

“Not likely,” Coran replied, an edge of darkness to his tone. “Unless Lance’s lion is suddenly operating on Galra tech.” 

Keith’s heart slammed into his chest, and he shared a glance with Hunk before both of them said, “turn it on.”

Coran pressed a button, and the screen flashed to life. Zarkon’s face, twelve feet tall, assaulted them, and Keith clenched his fists in anger. 

“Zarkon,” Shiro uttered, more calmly than Keith could understand. 

“The Paladins,” Zarkon intoned. “You survived.” Just hearing his voice sent a shiver down Keith’s spine. 

“How dare you contact us like this,” Allura said bitterly. “What do you want?”

Zarkon’s lips curled into a horrifying grin. “I think you'll want to hear what I have to say.”

He stepped back, and suddenly they could see Lance, sitting back on his heels, two Galra guards holding his shoulders in place. His hands were tied behind his back. His head hung low, but he looked up when the camera focused on him, revealing a split lip and a blackened eye. Keith felt his stomach lurch. 

“Lance,” he said, rushing forward to stand beside Allura. He soon felt Shiro’s presence beside him. 

“Hey, guys,” Lance said, clearly trying to sound stronger than he felt. Keith could see the trembling in his arms, the deep crease between his eyebrows. He was terrified.

Keith wanted him to speak again, but he didn't get the chance to do so before one of the guards hit him across the face, leaving him wincing 

“Yes,” Zarkon’s voice droned. “It looks like one of you wasn't quite so lucky.”

Keith had never been more angry. Lance was impossibly far away, in a state of emergency, and Keith already knew Zarkon’s deal for his life would be far too risky to take. If there even  _ was  _ a deal. What if the monster just wanted to kill Lance in front of them?  _ He wouldn't have gone to the trouble,  _ Keith convinced himself. It was the only way he wouldn't go crazy from worry.

“What do you want from us?” Keith asked, receiving a sudden glance from Shiro, which he ignored. “And how can we trust you?”

Zarkon chuckled. He enjoyed having Lance at his disposal. He liked being the one in control. Keith, on the other hand, had never felt more helpless. They'd clearly already roughed Lance up for the camera. Who knew what they would do to him once the connection dropped? Keith was panicking, running scenarios in his head that all ended with losing Lance. 

“My terms are quite simple,”’ Zarkon said. “In exchange for the Blue Paladin’s life, I require only two things.”

“We can't bargain with him,” Keith heard Allura whisper to Coran. If Zarkon and Lance, silent and bleeding on the screen, hadn’t been taking up all his attention, Keith would’ve wanted to be included in that discussion. 

“First, the Princess Allura of Altea,” Zarkon said, and the entire room seemed to freeze over.

“What?” Shiro demanded.

Zarkon ignored him. “Second, the black lion.” 

Keith was still. He had expected something like this; although, now that he was actually facing it, he realized he had no idea what their next move should be. 

“Forget it,” Shiro said. “We’re not going to agree to those terms.”

Zarkon said nothing, but suddenly, someone was pressing a taser to Lance’s neck, the only skin accessible through the paladin armor. His head flew back, and his body tensed. Keith would’ve shot forward if Shiro hadn't caught his arm. When it was over, Lance let out a grunt of pain, his breaths heaving. 

“Stop,” Keith muttered, unsure if even Shiro or Pidge could hear him. “Please, don't-”

He wasn't even finished when the taser hit Lance’s skin again, and he cried out, his body arching in pain, held up only by the guards. He crumpled as soon as he was no longer being tortured, and Keith heard him whimper softly, his eyes tightly closed. 

“Enough,” Keith said, louder this time, but the torture continued- this time the guards kicked him, repeatedly, in the chest, in the stomach, even once in his face, making blood spurt out of his nose and already bleeding lip. The worst part was the sound, though. The noises of pain coming from Lance’s mouth wrung at Keith’s emotions, and he was soon stretched as thin as he could go. “Stop!” he shouted, unsure what he was going to say next but unable to watch any more. He couldn't. He wouldn't allow Lance to be hurt this way. Never. 

“Does the Red Paladin speak for you?” Zarkon asked.

Nobody else seemed to know what to do. Nobody except for Shiro. “I do,” he said, once again putting his hand on Keith’s shoulder. “I speak for us.”

“And what is your answer?” Zarkon asked, correctly assuming his show of hurting Lance would have changed their minds.

“We will agree, but the Princess will not give herself up to you,” Shiro said stoically.

“Shiro-” Allura began, but Hunk stopped her, shaking his head. No one wanted to see her gone. No one would allow it. 

“Take-” Shiro began, but Keith couldn't allow that, either. 

“Will you take me, instead?” Keith asked, interrupting Shiro and stepping forward. “I'll go willingly.”

Zarkon stared at him, a smile twitching on his lips. “Ah, the little red paladin. The one who fights so like a Galra soldier.” He was clearly thinking a mile a tick, working through something Keith didn't understand. He didn't care. He just needed him to say yes. 

“Keith, no!” Pidge said, just as Shiro whirled him around until they were staring at one another. 

“Keith, think about what you're doing,” Shiro said, but Keith shrugged out from under him and stepped even closer to the screen. 

“You have to hold up your end of the bargain,” Keith demanded of the screen. “The Blue Paladin goes free. Without further harm.” This wasn't like him. He recalled the way he'd fought with Pidge when she’d wanted to leave the team. It had been selfish of her to try to go. Without her, they couldn't form Voltron, and the entire universe was at stake. Now, when Zarkon had the blue lion and its paladin, Keith was ready to make a deal that would significantly decrease their chances of ever forming Voltron again. He knew only that Lance was right there in front of him, bound and bleeding, and nobody else- himself, or even the innocent lives threatened by Zarkon, seemed important enough to let him die for. 

“You forget I have not agreed,” Zarkon said. 

“Do not give yourself up for me, Keith!” Allura begged. He ignored her, as did Zarkon, who seemed to have moved on from the idea of Allura. Keith knew that he would say yes, and wished it wouldn't take so long. He didn't know, however, that Lance was still listening.

“Keith-” he managed, pushing himself up. “Keith, no-”

Someone kicked his head down, and he cried out, grimacing, and convincing Keith even further that he was making the right decision. 

“I will take the Red Paladin,” Zarkon finally agreed. 

Keith heard little else of the conversation after that. He heard himself, as if from another body, making arrangements to meet, to exchange, but when the screen zapped back to black, Keith could only think that they'd lost sight of Lance. How were they to know, for  _ sure,  _ that he wouldn't be harmed? 

Everyone was silent, staring at Keith, at the ground, at their hands. Keith coughed, and turned to Shiro with a nod. “Right,” he said. “You and I need to get ready.” Shiro had to pilot the black lion to the planet they were meeting on, and he would need a way back once Keith-

“Why are you doing this?” Shiro asked. “You could have let me go. He wanted the black lion; he would've wanted its paladin, too.”

“We don't have time for this,” Keith said. 

“I know what it's like on a Galra ship, Keith! I knew what I was doing!”

Keith whirled on him, breathing hard. “And don't you think I wanted to save you from that? Look at yourself, Shiro! Last time they had you, you were mutilated and scarred, and I don't just mean on your face. You couldn't handle it again. I don't  _ want _ you to.” 

Shiro’s eyes were huge, and he didn't seem to know what to say. He looked down at his Galra tech arm, then back up at Keith, but the red paladin was already leaving the control deck. 

“Keith!” Allura shouted. “Aren't you even going to say goodbye to us?”

“Yeah,” Pidge said. “We need a plan to break you out. We should talk about this.”

“The plan is to get Lance away from those monsters,” Keith said, almost in a growl. “And every minute we waste is another minute that Zarkon gets impatient.”

“But, Keith...” Hunk started. 

Keith sighed, turning to face them once again. “If you come up with a plan, I'd appreciate the help. Until then...” He didn't finish, but instead walked through the control deck doors, headed for his lion, and possibly, his death. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith faces Lance before holding up his side of the bargain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! It was the amazing comments that got me to continue this at all, so here's lookin' at you guys. :)

Keith's boots stirred up dust as he stepped down onto the planet's surface. His breath was nearly deafening in his helmet as he watched Zarkon's ship descend.

“You alright, buddy?” Shiro's voice asked through the comm unit.

“I'm fine,” Keith lied. In all actuality, his own anger scared him. Surely it wasn't healthy to want to kill someone so badly, but when he thought about Zarkon's sneering face, grinning as Lance was tortured and the Paladins were made to choose one of their own to send in his place, Keith felt nothing but hatred. It almost made him smile to think of what Lance would say if he knew how close Keith was to snapping. It'd be something obnoxious and terrible, like _“this is why you just weren't Garrison material,”_ or _“anger issues: one, mullet: zero”._

_Oh, that was good,_ Keith thought. He could practically hear it in Lance's voice.

The ship touched down on the planet. It was a barren place; nowhere to hide. Nowhere for an ambush to attack. Strategic.

The ship's doors opened.

Keith's heart pounded.

A figure appeared at the entrance; merely a silhouette against the bright interior lights, but Keith knew instantly that it was Lance. He looked so small against the massive size of the ship, and yet he took up all of Keith's attention. A million emotions ran through Keith's already-overloaded brain as Lance made his way down the ramp towards him.

Keith walked forward, then picked up the pace until he was running. He had to see him up close. It was the reason he hadn't stayed in the lion. He'd had to speak to Lance one last time before he went with Zarkon. There was confusion on Lance's face as they neared each other. Lance was slow: limping and out of breath by the time he stopped.

“Keith,” he said, leaning over, gasping, “what the shit are you _doing?_ ” Keith took a moment too long to respond, and Lance sighed. “I know I look terrible. You don't have to stare.”

He was right. He _did_ look terrible, but that wasn't why Keith stared. He was relieved beyond measure to see him alive, up-close, and as infuriating as ever.

_It's okay,_ Keith told himself. _He's cracking jokes. He's fine._

“Are you hurt?” he asked anyway, unable to stop himself.

Lance shrugged half-heartedly. “Yeah,” he said. Then, “why did you come down here to meet me?”

“I wanted to make sure you were alright,” Keith answered. Lance softened a bit, and offered a small smile in return for Keith's concern.

He wanted to touch him. He wanted to run his fingers over every inch of Lance's face. It was a strange urge, but Keith supposed that maybe that happened when a near-death experience was involved.

“Keith.” Shiro's voice, distorted by static. “You don't have much time.”

Keith's blood surged dangerously through his temples. He knew Shiro was right; time felt so tangible in this moment that it was like he could feel it slipping away. There were so many more things left to say than he'd thought there would be.

“Why did you do it?” Lance suddenly asked. He still looked confused, and he shook his head as if frustrated by it. “I just- I don't understand why you're doing this.”

Keith swallowed. “Shiro- he wouldn't have made it through again,” he said. “I couldn't let him give himself up like that.” He knew Shiro could hear him, but the Black Paladin remained silent.

“And he wouldn't have let Allura go,” Lance said quietly.

“Right,” Keith replied, unsure how to say that he had done this for the same reason, for Lance.

Something moved in Keith's peripheral vision. A few Galra soldiers had moved to stand at the edge of the ramp, waiting for Keith. He swallowed. He was out of time.

“The others are just outside of the atmosphere,” Keith explained, trying to hurry. “They're going to come get you as soon as I'm gone.”

If Keith hadn't known how much pain Lance was in, he would've assumed he was worried. His eyebrows were taut over his eyes. His skinny frame was shaking. Keith was almost glad to go, if it meant that Lance could return to the care of the Paladins and the castle sooner.

“You'll be okay,” Keith told him, but Lance's expression did not change.

“Will you?” Lance asked, and Keith didn't know how to respond.

“Maybe,” he finally said. There was no reason to lie to Lance about this, too.

Lance stepped forward, but so did the Galra soldiers behind him; anxious for Keith to hurry. Lance's hands clasped over Keith's shoulders, and his face was close enough for Keith to see the wetness in his eyes. “I'll come back for you,” Lance said. Keith had never heard him so serious before. “Do you hear me? Keith, say you understand. I'm not leaving you in there.”

Keith was so shocked at the intensity that he only nodded at first. When he did speak, his voice was hesitant, quiet. “I know.”

Lance stared at him for a moment more, and then wrapped his arms around him, burying his face in the crook of Keith's neck.

“Hey-” Keith tried, “hey, I'll be okay, Lance,” he said, but when he got no response, he caved and returned the hug. He'd never been good at this sort of thing, and he'd never liked being touched this way, but instead of anxiety, the only thing he felt from this embrace was comfort. For the first time in his life, he didn't want to let go, but the Galra soldiers were drawing closer. Finally, he released himself from Lance's arms. He wouldn't be admitting anything today. Depending on if he died in that ship, he might not be admitting anything, ever.

_He's alive,_ Keith reminded himself, giving Lance a small smile, _he's going to be alright._

He turned and started back towards the black lion. He didn't stop, even when Lance called out his name. Once he was inside, he was safely able to let himself panic at the very real possibility that he had just given up his last opportunity to tell Lance he loved him.

_Love._

His own mind had tricked him into admitting it to himself. _Dammit._

The lion stepped forward, towards the ship, and the soldiers relaxed, confident now that Keith was holding up his end of the agreement.

_You love him,_ Keith thought, catching his last view of Lance before he stepped up to the ramp. _What a stupid thing to do._

 


End file.
